


Kissy Face

by ObscureReference



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: First Kiss, Kissing, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-21
Updated: 2017-05-21
Packaged: 2018-11-03 08:07:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10963140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ObscureReference/pseuds/ObscureReference
Summary: Laslow, Odin thought, had never kissed anyone in his life.





	Kissy Face

**Author's Note:**

> I was writing something else and then I thought of this for some reason. A case study to help me remember how to write kissing again, I suppose. Also I just love Owain/Odin (though this is the first time I've written his POV as an adult/in like 2 years/for Fates. So I hope it came out okay in this case.)

Odin faltered. It wasn’t often he broke character, and he never liked to do so, but—

“Are you serious?”

Laslow grimaced. His face and neck were turning pinker by the second. He always had been the type to full body blush. “You said you wouldn’t laugh!”

“There is no laughter here!” Odin protested. “But. Seriously?”

Odin had come up with a thousand different reasons Laslow had been so distant lately. A fearsome demon fighting for possession of Laslow’s physical shell of a body had numbered the top of that list. _Several_ fearsome demons fighting Laslow’s soul for control of his physical shell had been number two, and that list had continued on and on until Odin had begun to spin even mundane reasons.

(Personally, Selena’s money had been on Laslow finally being rejected by every last girl in the nearest villages. That had been around number two-hundred on Odin’s list.)

This.

This had not been on Odin’s list.

“Would you mind keeping your voice down?” Laslow’s voice was pitched slightly higher than normal. “As much as I’d love for the whole of Nohr to hear you, it would save what’s left of my dignity if they didn’t.”

The small side room Laslow had pulled them in was empty, and Odin could see no one else creeping down the hallway. Still, he lowered his voice, if only for Laslow’s sake.

“Just so we’re clear,” Odin said. “You’ve been spacing out all week because you haven’t had your first kiss yet?”

Shamefully, Laslow nodded.

Odin stared.

They were well into adulthood. Even _Odin_ had shared his affections here and there in the past, though without any long-lasting romantic relationships to show for it. For all that Laslow futilely chased skirts, Odin had figured he’d lucked out with at least a _few_ of them. Hadn’t Odin seen Laslow having tea with women before? Did he just—what, go home at the end? Part ways forever?

Laslow’s legs were crossed, and he was bouncing his feet in clear trepidation. His arms were crossed as well, and he sat on the bench as relaxed as one could expect a plank of wood to be.

Laslow was an adult.

Laslow, Odin thought, had never kissed anyone in his life.

“That’s—” Again, Odin faltered. “Really dumb.”

Laslow scowled. “I see. I should have known my personal plight would mean nothing to you.” He started to stand up. “I’ll just be on my way then. I’d appreciate it if—”

“Halt!” Odin motioned for Laslow to sit back down, and he did, albeit reluctantly. “That was poor phrasing on my part. What I meant to say was—” He tried to choose his words carefully. “That no one should care about that sort of thing. Romance is a journey! It is the emotion that predates the arduous task of combining two lives! In the trials and torments that befall destined souls, there is—”

“ _Odin_ ,” Laslow said.

“No wrong way to do it,” Odin finished. He coughed. “Seriously. You don’t have to rush anything.”

Laslow’s head fell back. He groaned. Loudly. “But it’s _embarrassing_!”

“You’re the only one making it embarrassing,” Odin said as Laslow all but melted into a puddle of shame. “Does it looking like I’m laughing?”

There was a beat as Laslow considered this.

“No,” Laslow grumbled, but he didn’t perk up. Odin sat only a few feet away, but Laslow’s voice still carried through the dusty room. “It’s just. I’m getting older, you know? And the older I get, the more humiliating it becomes. What grown man hasn’t kissed someone yet?”

“Having a midlife crisis already?” Odin teased. “I wasn’t aware that twenty-three was where that began. I should have gotten started a month ago.” At Laslow’s glare, he added, “I’m sure plenty of grown men haven’t kissed anyone before. I doubt you’re alone.”

That didn’t seem to placate Laslow at all. If anything, he sighed even harder and squeezed his eyes shut, no doubt lamenting his own faults and how he was going to be alone forever.

If there was one thing Laslow could do without issue, it was worry himself into the ground.

Odin frowned. The choices were either to solve Laslow’s dilemma or watch him mope around the castle for another month until he either forgot about it or found something new to stress about. Odin was no fair maiden, but even he knew what the better option was.

With that in mind, he walked over to Laslow’s seat and swung his legs over either side of Laslow’s hips.

Laslow immediately shot up.

“Wha—” Laslow sputtered. His face, which had been slowly returning to its normal shade of skin after Odin had proven he wasn’t there to taunt him, was quickly returning to a rather unflattering red. “Odin! What are you doing?”

Odin cupped Laslow’s cheek with his palm. He was sure Laslow could feel the calluses that still hadn’t faded from his hands.

No, Odin was no fair maiden indeed.

But he did have a mouth and a friend in need.

“Is this okay?” he asked.

“You—” Laslow’s eyes darted to the still empty hallway. “Somebody could _see_.”

Odin didn’t move. He knew Laslow could have thrown him away if he wanted, but Laslow hadn’t moved since Odin had crawled into his lap.

“Is this okay?” he repeated.

Laslow breathed in and stared. Odin stayed quiet as he watched Laslow glance from Odin’s lips to his hands to his face and back again. He waited until Laslow nodded yes.

Then he leaned down and kissed him.

It would have been a lie to say Odin had never thought about this. He had considered it before, briefly. Usually in the moments after battle when he found Laslow still alive and breathing. Sometimes when the sunlight hit Laslow just right or he smiled in a way that was particularly dazzling. Quick moments like that.

The thought had crossed Odin’s mind a few times before during their younger years as well, when Odin had been Owain and Laslow had been Inigo and they had butted heads more often than not. On days when the fighting was rough, on days when Inigo and Owain had wrestled each other to the ground, it had seemed very easy for Owain to lean forward and capture Inigo’s lips with his own. Perhaps biting a little harder than necessary as well. Just to even the score.

Occasionally the thought had made Owain’s heart beat so loudly it was all he could hear for an instant, and he swore his heart was going to burst.

But it had always seemed like a bad idea, so Odin had held back. It hadn’t been too difficult, most days.

Perhaps this was a bad idea too. But if it got Laslow out of his rut, then what else were comrades for?

Laslow surged up to meet him, eager, and Odin’s chest admittedly swelled for a moment, blood rushing to his head. Enthusiasm did not make up for skill, however, and Odin pulled back to whisper, _“Relax.”_

He felt more than saw Laslow soften under his fingertips. Odin hadn’t noticed when his eyes had fallen shut, but he was hyperaware of the feel of his skin against Laslow’s cheek. There was the tiniest bit of scruff under his palm; Odin remembered the days when Laslow’s face had been smooth for miles. From a distance, he still couldn’t notice the change. Even so, the feel of an older, more mature Laslow underneath him still made his body heat up from head to toe.

Laslow had been impatient at first, but now his lips rolled smoothly against Odin’s mouth. His lips were hot, wet, and much less chapped than Odin’s. There was the scent of something sweet under Odin’s nose that Odin quickly identified as belonging to the bottle of lotion Laslow often bought from the marketplace. It was unmistakably _Laslow_.

Laslow had obviously never kissed anyone in his life—which was somehow still surprising even after Odin had learned the truth—but he was a quick study. He adjusted the tilt of his head until his nose was no longer bumping against Odin’s uncomfortably. After a moment, he brushed his tongue against Odin’s bottom lip.

Odin gasped at the feel of him. He hadn’t expected Laslow’s confidence to swell so quickly. He could have _sworn_ he heard Laslow groan in response, but he wasn’t sure. Perhaps that was wishing too much.

It nearly startled Odin when he felt Laslow’s hand sliding up his back, but surprise quickly gave way to satisfaction. He let Laslow thread his long fingers through his short hair. Odin pressed down against Laslow a little harder in response; he hadn’t meant to do so at first, but the way Laslow leaned up to meet him was an thrilling encouragement.

He didn’t know the exact moment his hands drifted from Laslow’s jaw to brush the nape of Laslow’s neck with his thumb, but it was somewhere around the time Odin realized he had to stop.

He pulled back as much as he would allow himself, which, admittedly, wasn’t very far.

Odin could still feel Laslow’s hot breath on his face when he said, “Not bad.”

His voice was a little more hoarse than he remembered it being. He blamed the stress of being a teacher. When he blinked, he squeezed his eyes shut for a moment longer than usual to clear his vision.

Laslow’s hair was messier than it had been a minute ago, which he would no doubt blame on Odin as soon as he saw a mirror. His lips were wet with shared spit, his pupils blown wide. Odin felt a brief flash of pride from having been the cause of that.

Laslow looked… exquisite.

Laslow also hadn’t said anything, so Odin took it upon himself to add, “Not bad. For a beginner.”

Was he breathing too hard to play off? No, it was fine. If Laslow asked, Odin would blame it on the pressures of thinking of a new set of names for the weapons Niles had asked him to submit names for last week. Or something.

Yeah.

For a moment, it almost seemed like Laslow was going to say something. Hopefully something like “wow” or “thank you so much” or “we should do that again.”

Instead, somebody cleared their throat.

Laslow and Odin whipped around.

Beruka, face blank as usual, stood in the doorway. She seemed completely unfazed to see Odin sitting in Laslow’s lap, faces flushed from the clear make-out session she had just interrupted.

“I don’t care what you’re doing,” she said. “It does not pertain to my job. Do not involve me.”

She walked briskly past them and reached for something just out of Odin’s sight. It felt like a thousand years passed before Beruka straightened, a tome in her hand.

Odin considered asking something like, _“So you forgot your tome, did you?”_ , but if he was being honest with himself, he didn’t think he had the bodily control to speak, nonetheless to remember if Beruka could even use tomes or not. So he kept his mouth shut.

Beruka turned her back on them and quickly walked away. Odin did not think Laslow could have become more like a statue if he tried.

“Great,” Odin said stiffly, too aware of the way Laslow was staring at everything with wide, startled eyes. “Let’s just. Forget about this, right?”

“Uh.” Laslow nodded stiffly. “Right. Um. Thank you.”

“Yeah,” Odin said, equally uncomfortable. He slowly crawled off Laslow’s lap and ignored the tightness in his pants. “No problem. What are friends for?”

“Friends. Of course.”

“Of course.”

Odin had given up on keeping in character today. He was now focused solely on going back to his room and forgetting this had ever happened.

And if the gods were kind, nobody was around to watch him sprint back to his room to bury his face into his pillow and groan.

(Except maybe Beruka, who always saw everything. But at the very least, his and Laslow’s embarrassment would die with her indifference. And hopefully Laslow would still speak with him on the morrow.)

(At the very least, Laslow could say he’d experienced his first kiss now.)

(And if Odin’s lips tingled for a few hours after they split apart, nobody knew about it but himself.)

**Author's Note:**

> Originally someone like Xander or Leo was going to walk in at the end instead and maybe hint that Odin and/or Laslow liked somebody else as well, but then I realized if their lords walked in, they would probably die. So I used Beruka, who does not give a shit, instead. Though the boys are still embarrassed. (Also Odin's comment about having to make up names for new weapons is a reference to his and Niles' support conversations.)
> 
> Feel free to leave a comment below or hmu at my [tumblr!](http://someobscurereference.tumblr.com/)


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